Gum health
Why do my gums bleed when I brush?
Bleeding gums usually mean plaque has built up along the gumline — early gum disease. The fix is more careful cleaning, not less. If it carries on, come and see us.
What bleeding gums are telling you
Bleeding when you brush or floss is usually the first sign of gingivitis — gum inflammation caused by plaque gathering along the edge of the gum. The instinct is to avoid that tender spot, but the opposite is what helps: clean it gently and thoroughly, twice a day, and get between the teeth daily. Most early inflammation settles within a week or two once the plaque is cleared.
If the bleeding, puffiness or soreness carries on despite good cleaning, come in for a look. Caught at this stage it is very treatable and fully reversible.
Why it is worth acting early
Left alone, gingivitis can advance into periodontitis, where the bone anchoring your teeth starts to be lost — and that loss does not come back. Periodontitis cannot be cured, only managed, so the sooner we catch it the more of your own tooth support we keep. Gum health is tied to the rest of you as well: advanced gum disease is linked to heart disease and to harder blood-sugar control in diabetes.
Common questions
Should I stop brushing where my gums bleed?
No — do the opposite. Bleeding usually means plaque has built up there, so clean it gently but thoroughly. Most early inflammation settles within a week or two of better cleaning.
Is bleeding gums serious?
At the early gingivitis stage it is very treatable and reversible. Ignored, it can progress to periodontitis and permanent bone loss, so it is worth having checked if it persists.
Evidence and further reading
- Herrera D, Sanz M, Shapira L, Brotons C, Chapple I, Frese T, Graziani F, Hobbs FDR, Huck O, Hummers E, Jepsen S, Kravtchenko O, Madianos P, Molina A, Ungan M, Vilaseca J, Windak A, Vinker S (2023). Association between periodontal diseases and cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and respiratory diseases: Consensus report of the Joint Workshop by the European Federation of Periodontology (EFP) and the European arm of the World Organization of Family Doctors (WONCA Europe). Journal of Clinical Periodontology 50(6):819–41 · doi:10.1111/jcpe.13807
Periodontologists and family doctors reviewing the evidence together concluded that periodontitis is independently associated with cardiovascular disease, diabetes and several respiratory conditions, and that treating it has been associated with improvement in general health measures. This is the reference behind the sentence above linking gum health to the rest of the body.
- Sanz M, Marco del Castillo A, Jepsen S, Gonzalez-Juanatey JR, D'Aiuto F, Bouchard P, Chapple I, Dietrich T, Gotsman I, Graziani F, Herrera D, Loos B, Madianos P, Michel JB, Perel P, Pieske B, Shapira L, Schechter M, Tonetti M, Vlachopoulos C, Wimmer G (2020). Periodontitis and cardiovascular diseases: consensus report. Global Heart 15(1):1 · doi:10.5334/gh.400
The joint report of the European Federation of Periodontology and the World Heart Federation, dealing specifically with the heart side of that link. It is the more cautious of the two on what the association means, which is why it is cited alongside rather than instead of the newer one.